The Wetfoot Blog

Monday, March 17, 2008

Making a Clean Break

Hey, it was how they were sorted. Sam was a keeper,

but Mary just didn't make the cut.

Thanks to the help of our dedicated volunteers, we were able to purge, clean, straighten, reorganize, and air out the Equipment Repair Room in the MLC this past weekend over our Spring Break Work Weekend. As Mark Zanoni so poignantly noted, "This is the first time since this place was built that it has been cleaned." That means it has been at least ten years since the Repair Room has had a major delousing. It is incredible to see what a group of driven individuals can accomplish.

And there was a lot to do and sort through. Bowling balls, a drum set, seventeen pairs of olds shoes, a lifetime supply of paint, four sewing machines, an industrial ice-maker, nine kayaks, an aluminum bat, an urn containing the ashes of Danny Wones' dog, Ralph, and a mound of dirty laundry just to name a few. These were the treasures and presents that awaited us within the bowels of the Repair Room. It was almost like a perverse sort of Christmas. The difference being, after unwrapping these gifts you did not want to put them in your living room – let alone keep them.

I felt like I was on the Titanic for part of the weekend. What I could see was not even a sixth of what lay hidden beneath the surface. As we peeled back the layers, more surprises turned up. Among them was an entire plastic crate filled with rotten logs, which was conveniently labeled 'wood.' However, the crate had no discernible use nor reason for being in the Repair Room. Yet, there it was.

Life in the Repair Room will hopefully be more pleasant and efficient this summer. We removed many unidentifiable and mystifying items that were merely taking up space. There are now open shelves and floor space. So, anyone that has ever tried to repair a broken kayak seat or thwart on a Tripper in the Repair Room, you now have a functional workspace. And for anyone that needs to use it in the future, just remember how clean and free of clutter it is - make sure to keep it that way!

Also, this weekend we took stock of our wannigans. Many of them were in rough shape and beyond repair. We have tracked down the original plans (drawn up by our own Jon Iltis) and our hope is to work on adding some new 'canoe boxes' to our fleet. As with everything here, we 'try, change and try again,' meaning we are going to make improvements on the current design to enhance their durability and storage.

It was a productive weekend. We are again, grateful for the assistance of our volunteers. They dove in and helped out tremendously. In this case, many hands made for light work.